My trip to Japan

So it all began on the 27th of March when I woke up at 4:15AM remembering that I had something to do today.

6 hours, 1 sandwich, half a packet of chocolate buttons and 3 emotional goodbyes later I was sitting on a plane bound for Copenhagen. I got a window seat sitting next to no one, who themselves was sitting next to a large man with an earing who didn't move throughout the whole journey. That flight was great; I had lots of legroom and managed to sleep. Touching down in Copenhagen it emerged that the connecting flight was going to be 3 hours late because of an "illegal dispute" (though I think she meant to say "a legal") between fuel companies. So I had to hang around in Copenhagen airport, which had a glistening array of shops, which I couldn’t get to because I was on a connecting flight. There was, to keep me entertained, several chairs and Number 9 Dream by David Mitchell. I did also have a phone card which I tried to use in the public telephone but when I looked down the list of countries to call from I realised that I actually didn’t know where Copenhagen was, which meant I didn’t really know where I was. The answer, as you probably know, is Denmark.

The flight from Copenhagen to Tokyo takes 10 hours and 50 minutes, I was hoping it might be quicker since the plane was late and the pilot might know a shortcut to make up for lost time. No such luck. This time I was sitting next to an oldish Japanese man who kept nudging me when he was asleep and was so short that he had to stand on his chair’s armrest to reach the overhead lockers. To my right was another Japanese man who had been studying for his PHD in Manchester for a few years; it was on polymers or something. He was the kind of guy who had lots to say about himself and that was it. He was a bit nervous because he hadn’t been back home in 4 years, I who was travelling on my own to a country I had never been before and didn’t speak the language had little sympathy, well a bit. I watched the end of The Prestige, the middle of Stranger than Fiction and most of The Truman Show which is a great film but there’s a bit where he is in a travel agents and there is a large poster warning of the dangers of flying by plane. It shows a plane being struck by lightning and says boldly “It could happen to you,” slightly unsettling that was.

I managed to sleep for about two hours, but I find it so hard on planes; they should give out tranquillisers along with grape juice. Oh wait they do, it’s called wine.

‘If you have ever landed at Narita airport as a foreigner you’ll have noticed a very long line for immigration. At the end of the line is a Japanese teenager sitting behind a desk who told me that I was only allowed to stay for 3 months, I didn’t want to argue that I was sure it was 6 months, could be a bit of a problem that. But on the plus side I have another stamp in my passport J

Once I was free and reunited with my big red rucksack which is so ugly that no one would ever steal it, I had to work out how to get to the Gaijin House (accommodation for foreigners) that I was staying in. I knew that it was in Matsudo and that there was an airport bus called a limousine service. I found the desk that said airport limousine and asked them, they said go to the next counter. At the next counter they sold me a ticket, told me where and when it would come and smiled politely. Next I had to phone the people at the house to tell them that I had arrived. This meant using the phone card again and though I knew which country I was in this time I couldn’t get the number right. I found the tourist info desk and a friendly lady with wonderful teeth told me to try without one of the zeros, and she was right. I dialled the number and spoke to whoever it was that answered, I told her that I had arrived and bought a bus ticket to Matsudo, to which she replied “Why? You are staying in Minami Gyotuku.”

I went back to the woman with wonderful teeth and told her my problem. She looked alarmed when I said where I was actually staying and had to reach for a special map and told me to come back in a minute. I managed to get a full refund on my useless bus ticket and returned to her. Instead of just being able to get on a direct bus I now had to get a train, then 2 subway trains to get there. She wrote out all the station names, the times of the trains and all in English as well as Japanese so that I would definitely not get lost. I knew she had no faith in me; maybe it was my teeth.